Hostelworld.com reached a significant milestone as it witnessed 1 millionth download of its Pocket Guide from the site.

Published: 29 Apr 2008

Hostelworld.com reached a significant milestone as it witnessed 1 millionth download of its Pocket Guide from the site.

The four-page downloadable PDF guides were launched in 2004 and provide backpackers with a free pocket sized travel guide to accompany them on their city breaks.

Colm Hanratty, Editor of Hostelworld.com, said, "Downloadable PDF guides are becoming more and more popular with the tech-savvy backpacker market who are increasingly turning away from the traditional guidebook in lieu of something more up to date and compact. Our guides are unique, because they are specifically aimed at our target market, outlining great places to eat, drink and visit that suit our customers' budget and lifestyle."

Hanratty said over the last year the company has worked hard to get a better spread of guides to include more for Asian destinations. It now has downloadable guides for Bangkok, Beijing, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Tokyo.

"However, our most popular guides remain those for the European cities - London, Paris, Rome and Barcelona," said Hanratty.

Along with 40 downloadable Pocket Guides, Hostelworld.com has recently published 25 travel podcasts.

A recent survey commissioned by Hostelworld.com showed that 35% of backpackers bring laptops with them when they travel and 71% bring an MP3 player or iPod.